The hottest goal scorer in the ECHL, Derek Nesbitt, continued his league-leading goal scoring streak to six games with the first goal of the contest.

Nesbitt received a cross-ice pass from Garry Nunn and one-timed the puck over the blocker of the Steelhead’s starting goalie, Philippe Desrosiers. Nunn increased a scoring streak of his own to eight games with the assist on the night's first goal.

Idaho tied the game at one on an Emil Molin goal. The Swedish forward collected his third of the season on a shot from the slot after a Jefferson Dahl centering pass from behind the net. Rob Linsmayer got credit for the secondary assist and now has points in five straight games.

Tyler Murovich earned his second goal in as many games :48 seconds after the first Idaho notch. Mike Merrifield picked up an assist in his second straight game after sending the puck in front to Murovich waiting at the top of the crease. Atlanta's alternate captain scooped the puck in past Derosiers to give the Gladiators the 2-1 lead.

The Steelheads equaled the score again with just over eight minutes left in the first. Dahl notched his second point of the night and his fourth goal of the season. The Atlanta, GA native Zach Kamrass, got the lone assist on the goal that tied the game at two.

Atlanta took the lead yet again on a second-period tally from Nate Condon. The Wisconsin native took a pass from Tyler Shiplo who created a turnover in the neutral zone. Condon blew past both Steelhead defenders and slid the puck in under Derosiers on the breakaway for his second goal of the season.

Idaho equaled the score for the third time on the evening with just six seconds left in the middle period. Dahl sent a slap shot in past Gladiator’s goalie Matt Ginn from the high slot for his second of the night. Molin and Kamrass both received assists to give them multi-point evenings on the powerplay goal.

Brock Higgs took advantage of an Atlanta powerplay and scored for the second consecutive game early in period three. Higgs had his centering pass deflect in off the Steelhead’s defenseman Corbin Baldwin. Nunn and Yuen both notched their second points of the game with the assists on Higgs’ fourth goal of the season and the second powerplay marker of the game for Atlanta.

Idaho erased the Gladiator lead once again as Molin registered his second goal of the game at the 11:16 mark of the third period. Linsmayer sent a pass from behind the net to a wide-open Molin who made no mistake for his fourth of the year. Cole Martin was given credit for the secondary assist on the game-tying tally.

The game would shift to 3-on-3 overtime with both teams looking for the extra point in the standings. Higgs maneuvered around the Steelhead’s zone and eventually found Merrifield behind the defense on the backdoor with :58 seconds left in OT. Merrifield sent the puck into the wide-open net giving himself, along with Higgs, multi-point evenings and the fourth straight victory for Atlanta. The Gladiators now increase to 11 points on the young season in the standings. In the overtime loss, Idaho earned a single point to improve to 10 points on the campaign.

Up Next:

Atlanta is back in action tomorrow night versus the same Steelheads at the CenturyLink Arena for the third and final game in Idaho at 9:10 P.M. EST.

After a scoreless opening period, the second frame began favorably for the Gladiators as Brock Higgs was able to take advantage of the first powerplay opportunity for the home team.

Higgs potted home an Eric Neiley shot that rebounded off the chest of Greenville goaltender, Jeff Malcolm. Thomas Frazee was credited with the secondary assist and the goal was Higgs' sixth of the year.

Atlanta would capitalize on their second powerplay as well with just under eight minutes left in the middle period. Nolan Descoteaux, from the point, found Nathan Condon on the back side of Malcolm who deflected it between the legs of the Greenville Goaltender. The tally was Condon’s third of the season and was assisted by Neiley in addition to Descoteaux’s first point since joining Atlanta this past Thursday.

The Gladiators would add a third goal from Daniel Bahntge with 3:13 left in the second period. A Justin Buzzeo shot rebounded right to Bahntge in the far circle and he quickly slapped it into the upper-right corner for his second goal of the season. The goal also marks the fourth point of the year for the Westlake, Ohio native.

The Swamp Rabbits would tally their first goal 3:52 into the third period off the skate of Scott Fleming. Michael St. Croix took a shot that rebounded off Gladiators goaltender, Kent Patterson, and ricocheted off Fleming’s blade and into the net. The goal was the Plainfield, Ontario native’s third of the year.

J.T. Barnett would add an empty-net, short-handed goal to seal the win for the Gladiators with 2:10 remaining in the third period. Greenville misplayed the puck on the 6-on-4 man advantage that led to Barnett breaking away for the easy score to make it a 4-1 final. Atlanta increased their point total to 15 on the campaign with the victory and dropped the Swamp Rabbits to 4-8-0.

Up Next:

The Atlanta Gladiators will next face the South Carolina Stingrays Saturday, November 25th at The Arena at Infinite Energy Center.

Gladiators Win Third Straight with 5-4 Victory in Idaho

Atlanta struck first on Tyler Murovich’s second goal of the season just over three minutes into the game. Daniel Bahntge flew into the zone and fired a shot on goal from his knees after being tripped to the ice. It took Murovich three tries from the goalmouth on the rebound to send the puck into the goal and give Atlanta the early 1-0 lead.

Just :48 seconds later Garry Nunn gave the Gladiators a 2-0 advantage on his second of the season. Nunn received a long feed from Thomas Frazee and powered his way to the front of the net and slid the puck in under the Steelhead’s goalie Eric Hartzell. The goal extended Nunn’s point streak to seven games and earned him his ninth point of the season. Frazee also captured his ninth point of the season and prolonged a point streak of his own to five straight on the road.

Brock Higgs put Atlanta up by three on a shorthanded goal with :24 seconds left in the period. Mike Merrifiel in his first game back from Injury started the play by intercepting a pass in his own end. The product of Michigan State University lead the 2-on-1 rush the other way and found Higgs on a cross-crease pass for the third Gladiators tally in the opening period.

It took Idaho only :12 seconds to respond with their first goal of the contest. Andre Bouvet-Morrissette circled the back of the net and sent the puck to Taylor Peters in front. Peters wired it home from the slot and picked up his fourth marker of the season on the powerplay goal to cut the Gladiator’s lead to two.

The Steelheads added to a busy last minute of the opening frame on a goal with under a second remaining in the period. Brandon Magee won the offensive zone faceoff back to the point to Tommy Fallen. The rookie defender wristed a shot through traffic in front that found the back of the net right before the horn sounded. The first career professional goal for Fallen sent to the teams to the first intermission with a 3-2 Atlanta lead.

Idaho carried the momentum into the second period and tied the game just 1:18 into the middle frame. Magee got his second assist and second point of the game on a Colton Beck goal. Magee’s centering pass was tipped home by Beck from the goal crease for his fourth of the season and third of the game for the Steelheads to equalize the score.

Magee earned his first goal and third point of the night four minutes later and gave Idaho their first lead of the game. Beck dropped off the puck on the 3-on-1 rush to the on-coming Magee who fired his third of the season in past Gladiator’s netminder Matt Ginn.

Brad Navin evened the score at four with the second shorthanded goal of the night for Atlanta three minutes into the third period. The Wisconsin native picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone and walked into the Steelhead's end uncontested where the rookie forward rifled one in along the ice between the legs of Hartzell. The tally gave Navin his second career goal of his professional career.

Former Steelhead, Derek Nesbitt, collected a long pass from Joe Stejskal and entered the Idaho zone down the far side. The member of the 2006-07 Steelhead's Kelly Cup Championship winning team blasted a slap shot past Hartzell to get the Gladiators the lead back with a little over 11 minutes left in the game. Defending a shorthanded 6-on-3 advantage with the Idaho net empty, Ginn made several game-saving saves to complete the comeback victory for the Gladiators.

Atlanta collected their fourth win on the season, extended their win streak to three games and improved to nine points on the campaign in the winning effort. The loss dropped Idaho to 4-4-1-0 as they remain at nine points.

Up Next:

Atlanta will have the day off tomorrow and are back in action against the same Idaho Steelheads at the CenturyLink Arena Friday night at 9:10 P.M. EST.

Atlanta Stings South Carolina with 5-3 Win

Atlanta opened up the scoring with a powerplay goal exactly four minutes into the contest. Thomas Frazee was parked in front of the goal and had a Brock Higgs shot ricochet off his chest into the net past Stingrays starting goalie Mark Dekanich. Derek Nesbitt also earned an assist on Frazee’s first as a Gladiator giving the veteran points in three straight games.

Tyler Shiplo added to the Atlanta lead with a deflection notch late in period one. Ian Barteaux corralled a pass at the point from Frazee and then propelled a wrist shot on net that Shiplo redirected into the goal for his first tally of the season. Frazee recorded his sixth point and second muti-point game on the young campaign with the helper.

After a scoreless second came and went, South Carolina got on the board for the first time just over two minutes into the third period. Bobby Shea scored his first of the year on the rebound of a Max Sauve shot. Defensemen Brendan Ellis also received an assist on the first powerplay goal of the season for the Stingrays.

Atlanta responded quickly at the 5:35 mark as Nesbitt completed a tic-tac-toe passing play with linemates Garry Nunn and Frazee. With the goal, Nesbitt now has five points in his last three games. Frazee earned his third point of the afternoon on the play and now has seven points on the young season to lead the Gladiators.

Nate Condon picked up his first goal as a Gladiator on a breakaway score. Todd Fiddler chipped a puck into the neutral zone where Condon split the defense the walked in all alone and collected his third point in as many games.

South Carolina got two quick back-to-back goals to decrease the Gladiators lead with three minutes to go in the game. Andrew Johnston and Stephan Vigier each tallied to bring the Stingrays to within one.

Brad Navin spoiled the Stingray comeback hopes with an empty net marker with :16 seconds left in the game. The tally was the first career goal for the product of the University of Wisconsin and gave Condon his second point of the game on the assist. With the 5-3 victory, Atlanta improved to 2-2-1 with five points on the season and dropped the Stingrays to 1-3-1 and three points.

Up Next:

Atlanta travels to Greenville this Friday to face-off with their South Division rival Swamp Rabbits for the first time this season at 7:00 p.m.

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